There are several electrical safety devices that are built into homes that we fail to appreciate until the devices are needed. The Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) and the (GFCI) Ground Fault Interrupter GFCI are just a couple of the revolutionary smart electric technologies which help to keep the occupants inside our homes safe by lowering the risk of house fires and electric shocks.
The AFCI breaker does a different job from GFIs, Ground Fault Interrupter (GFCI) breakers and outlets. A GFI protects you from becoming part of the circuit and receiving an electric shock. The AFCI circuit breaker protects you and your house from a fire. While doing home inspections in New Jersey I look for these very important AFCI breakers and make sure they are present in newer home.
Homes constructed after 2002 have Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters AFCI installed in the homes. AFCI breakers are installed on the inside of the homes electrical panel and connected to the circuits that supply energy source to all of the sleeping areas inside the home. If you look inside the electrical panel these breakers will have AFCI printed on the breaker. These breakers look very similar to your GFCI breakers. What makes these breakers unique is that they sense the arcing of an electric circuit and trip within a fraction of a second. When a hot wire makes a solid contact with a ground or a neutral, the current draw will be high enough to trip the breaker. But if the contact is intermittent and not a solid contact due to loose or corroded connections or failing insulation, what develops is an arc. The arc causes heat, which left undetected can cause a fire. The AFCI breaker detects an arc by the characteristic wave an arc causes in the electrical flow. When it senses an arc fault it will trip the breaker.
An example of the breaker in effect might be a lamp power cord within the bedroom becomes pinched at the head board yet doesn't completely break it might create an Arc Fault which overheats, but when the circuit has a Arc Fault Protection device it will now detect the arc and trip off the circuit instantly.
There are several new devices coming down the road with AFCI and GFCI protection. There will soon be an electric receptacle on the market which performs both features of the AFCI and GFCI. Most experts are projecting that all of the receptacles in a brand-new home are going to be AFCI protected in the very near future because life and property safety is a very high priority in all brand new technologies.
As a home inspector in NJ I try to educate my clients on the different electrical safety devices installed in their homes as well as make recommendations for electrical safety upgrades.
　
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